diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8e8690a0a..36e85e454 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -429,6 +429,12 @@ start-local:
 	docker-compose -f docker-compose.local.yml up -d
 stop-local:
 	docker-compose -f docker-compose.local.yml stop
+start-mysql:
+	docker-compose -f docker-compose.mysql.yml up -d mysql
+stop-mysql:
+	docker-compose -f docker-compose.mysql.yml stop mysql
+logs-mysql:
+	docker-compose -f docker-compose.mysql.yml logs -f mysql
 docker-local: docker-local-bookworm
 docker-local-all: docker-local-bookworm docker-local-bullseye docker-local-buster docker-local-jammy
 docker-local-bookworm:
diff --git a/docker-compose.mariadb.yml b/docker-compose.mariadb.yml
index c330b8d14..0c4ef78c9 100644
--- a/docker-compose.mariadb.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.mariadb.yml
@@ -101,21 +101,6 @@ services:
       MYSQL_PASSWORD: "photoprism"
       MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: "photoprism"
 
-  ## MySQL 8 Database Server
-  ## Docs: https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/
-  mysql:
-    image: mysql:8
-    command: mysqld --port=4001 --innodb-buffer-pool-size=256M --transaction-isolation=READ-COMMITTED --character-set-server=utf8mb4 --collation-server=utf8mb4_unicode_ci --max-connections=512 --innodb-rollback-on-timeout=OFF --innodb-lock-wait-timeout=120
-    expose:
-      - "4001" # database port (internal)
-    volumes:
-      - "./scripts/sql/mariadb-init.sql:/docker-entrypoint-initdb.d/init.sql"
-    environment:
-      MYSQL_DATABASE: "photoprism"
-      MYSQL_USER: "photoprism"
-      MYSQL_PASSWORD: "photoprism"
-      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: "photoprism"
-
 ## Join shared "photoprism-develop" network
 networks:
   default:
diff --git a/docker-compose.mysql.yml b/docker-compose.mysql.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c813919af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose.mysql.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+version: '3.5'
+
+# MySQL versions for testing compatibility
+services:
+  ## MySQL 8 Database Server
+  ## Docs: https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/
+  mysql:
+    image: mysql:8
+    command: mysqld --port=4001 --innodb-buffer-pool-size=256M --transaction-isolation=READ-COMMITTED --character-set-server=utf8mb4 --collation-server=utf8mb4_unicode_ci --max-connections=512 --innodb-rollback-on-timeout=OFF --innodb-lock-wait-timeout=120
+    expose:
+      - "4001" # database port (internal)
+    environment:
+      MYSQL_DATABASE: "photoprism"
+      MYSQL_USER: "photoprism"
+      MYSQL_PASSWORD: "photoprism"
+      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: "photoprism"
+
+## Join shared "photoprism-develop" network
+networks:
+  default:
+    name: photoprism-develop
+    external: true
diff --git a/internal/config/config_db.go b/internal/config/config_db.go
index 219e7258b..fcf6bbfad 100644
--- a/internal/config/config_db.go
+++ b/internal/config/config_db.go
@@ -10,14 +10,14 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
-	"github.com/photoprism/photoprism/pkg/clean"
-
 	"github.com/jinzhu/gorm"
 	_ "github.com/jinzhu/gorm/dialects/mysql"
 	_ "github.com/jinzhu/gorm/dialects/sqlite"
 
 	"github.com/photoprism/photoprism/internal/entity"
 	"github.com/photoprism/photoprism/internal/mutex"
+	"github.com/photoprism/photoprism/pkg/clean"
+	"github.com/photoprism/photoprism/pkg/txt"
 )
 
 // SQL Databases.
@@ -307,9 +307,11 @@ func (c *Config) InitTestDb() {
 
 // connectDb establishes a database connection.
 func (c *Config) connectDb() error {
+	// Make sure this is not running twice.
 	mutex.Db.Lock()
 	defer mutex.Db.Unlock()
 
+	// Get database driver and data source name.
 	dbDriver := c.DatabaseDriver()
 	dbDsn := c.DatabaseDsn()
 
@@ -321,6 +323,7 @@ func (c *Config) connectDb() error {
 		return errors.New("config: database DSN not specified")
 	}
 
+	// Open database connection.
 	db, err := gorm.Open(dbDriver, dbDsn)
 	if err != nil || db == nil {
 		for i := 1; i <= 12; i++ {
@@ -338,12 +341,33 @@ func (c *Config) connectDb() error {
 		}
 	}
 
+	// Configure database logging.
 	db.LogMode(false)
 	db.SetLogger(log)
 
+	// Set database connection parameters.
 	db.DB().SetMaxOpenConns(c.DatabaseConns())
 	db.DB().SetMaxIdleConns(c.DatabaseConnsIdle())
-	db.DB().SetConnMaxLifetime(10 * time.Minute)
+	db.DB().SetConnMaxLifetime(time.Hour)
+
+	// Check database server version.
+	switch dbDriver {
+	case MySQL:
+		type Res struct {
+			Value string `gorm:"column:Value;"`
+		}
+		var res Res
+		if err = db.Raw("SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'innodb_version'").Scan(&res).Error; err != nil {
+			return err
+		} else if v := strings.Split(res.Value, "."); len(v) < 3 {
+			log.Warnf("config: unknown database server version")
+		} else if major := txt.UInt(v[0]); major < 10 {
+			err = fmt.Errorf("config: MySQL %s is not supported, please upgrade to MariaDB 10.5.12 or later (https://docs.photoprism.app/getting-started/#databases)", res.Value)
+			return err
+		} else if txt.UInt(v[1]) <= 5 && txt.UInt(v[2]) <= 12 {
+			log.Errorf("config: MariaDB %s is not supported, please upgrade to MariaDB 10.5.12 or later (https://docs.photoprism.app/getting-started/#databases)", res.Value)
+		}
+	}
 
 	c.db = db